Quick SNITCH

A quantitative guide to the degree of difficulty of the Times Quick Cryptic Crossword

Times Quick Cryptic Crossword 2956

Date 07 April 2025
Number 2956
Setter Izetti
Day of week Monday
NITCH 76
Count of ref solvers 81
Ref solvers excluded with errors 6
Link to crossword View Crossword*
Times for the Times Link 2956

* Requires access to the Times Crossword Club

Detailed solving results

Reference, Tracked and Blog solvers with error-free solutions to this puzzle are shown below.

We also show the solver's Personal NITCH, which is their result on this puzzle compared to their average time, and the Wavelength Index of Times Cryptic Hardness, the WITCH, which is the Personal NITCH compared to the SNITCH.

Name TfTT Name Average time This time Personal NITCH WITCH
cmjhutton 02:17 01:41 73 96
Paul Gilbert 02:23 01:32 64 84
mauefw 02:30 02:29 99 130
Jason 02:35 01:58 76 100
verlaine 02:38 02:45 104 136
mistigris 02:40 02:07 79 103
hilarym 02:47 02:33 91 119
aphis99 aphis99 02:53 01:46 61 80
Magoo 02:54 02:11 75 98
Flimmy flammy 03:14 02:16 70 92
markdobell 03:42 03:00 81 106
Ciolf 03:42 02:40 72 94
Heyesey 03:47 02:50 74 97
glheard 04:08 03:26 83 109
SimonAnthony 04:09 03:21 80 105
Amoeba89 04:09 02:46 66 86
Kinghedger 04:11 03:26 82 107
Topical Tim Topical Tim 04:16 03:52 90 118
Umpire 04:19 04:43 109 143
MikeOsborne 04:19 03:33 82 107
Deane Short 04:21 03:16 75 98
lickert 04:23 04:00 91 119
Roscoe 04:29 04:38 103 135
chindit 04:29 03:25 76 100
MK76 04:36 04:31 98 128
chriswords 04:37 05:25 117 153
Tom Stubbs Tom Stubbs 04:43 03:47 80 105
tilbee 04:48 04:13 87 114
LouWeed LouWeed 04:49 04:29 93 122
Bluejacket 04:50 02:33 52 68
lucyg43484 04:50 03:35 74 97
Liari 04:52 03:51 79 103
andrewlake 04:54 02:50 57 75
Honggui 04:55 04:09 84 110
scrabbler 04:55 03:44 75 98
Freemers 04:55 04:12 85 111
cdb_100 04:57 03:47 76 100
d.middleton 04:59 05:38 113 148
LuckOfLucien 04:59 04:38 92 121
andy 05:01 03:14 64 84
tiggis 05:01 05:19 105 138
EricK 05:02 04:27 88 115
McBeakLives 05:03 03:51 76 100
denislaw 05:03 03:46 74 97
JayEm 05:09 03:47 73 96
March 05:10 03:44 72 94
Ed freshpot 05:12 05:03 97 127
Jon Delfin 05:13 05:20 102 134
neilr neilr 05:16 04:51 92 121
7dPenguin 7dPenguin 05:16 05:30 104 136
fshephe 05:18 05:02 94 123
Tibthorpe 05:20 05:43 107 140
Zander 05:20 03:06 58 76
ChuckB 05:21 04:25 82 107
Squallaby 05:25 05:37 103 135
pitcaithlie Pitcaithlie 05:25 04:24 81 106
Aly Duncan 05:26 06:23 117 153
MossDef 05:26 05:04 93 122
cmcnsmith 05:34 06:30 116 152
esmeralda 05:36 06:18 112 147
Adelaider 05:36 03:59 71 93
Finzi 05:39 06:13 110 144
Riche Riche 05:39 04:27 78 102
drginacoco 05:41 01:20 23 30
MrChumley MrChumley 05:41 06:22 112 147
KET 05:45 03:46 65 85
Rabbitoh galspray 05:46 04:42 81 106
Looch 05:49 04:35 78 102
rrricharrrd 05:49 02:43 46 60
mcrossib1 05:50 03:52 66 86
Encota 05:54 03:36 61 80
Rosron 05:57 06:57 116 152
chriswestontour 05:57 05:46 96 126
andrewfeist96 06:04 04:57 81 106
Streaky Bacon 06:05 04:29 73 96
KarenR 06:06 04:25 72 94
Sreffej 06:16 05:46 92 121
PGooden 06:17 04:24 70 92
hopkinb hopkinb 06:18 04:09 65 85
Jeremy Weissmann plusjeremy 06:20 04:30 71 93
plusjeremy (Jeremy Weissmann) plusjeremy 06:20 04:30 71 93
ramf 06:22 05:06 80 105
Carol 06:25 05:10 80 105
jimwetzler 06:27 05:37 87 114
SBQuick 06:28 05:06 78 102
Adrian Cobb 06:29 04:39 71 93
Shabbo 06:31 07:07 109 143
Dzhigit 06:33 05:38 86 113
robertL 06:40 07:39 114 150
paul.whitehouse69 06:42 05:45 85 111
GMcD 06:46 06:00 88 115
jon 06:49 05:30 80 105
Onelug 06:51 03:25 49 64
Tudds 06:53 06:09 89 117
Michael Dove 06:59 05:08 73 96
Kevin Gregg Kevin Gregg 07:00 08:35 122 160
thewanderingeditor 07:03 07:30 106 139
earlylight 07:06 05:13 73 96
hazyfantazee 07:09 05:55 82 107
robinh 07:10 08:46 122 160
endafk 07:10 04:16 59 77
janesa 07:14 07:21 101 132
FraserH 07:18 06:01 82 107
Nangle 07:19 07:07 97 127
Puzzleplease 07:25 09:19 125 164
moirconsult 07:25 02:56 39 51
banishspam 07:29 10:39 142 186
Dvynys Dvynys 07:32 06:45 89 117
Mike Harper Mike Harper 07:35 05:27 71 93
td349 07:37 05:03 66 86
DamienKnapma 07:38 07:46 101 132
SlumdogEngineer 07:43 03:33 46 60
CrystalPip 07:44 06:29 83 109
Desdeeloeste Desdeeloeste 07:46 07:18 93 122
ChrisBrea 07:51 07:05 90 118
Jamie Fox 07:57 05:04 63 82
martinede 08:01 06:36 82 107
TomHerbert 08:17 08:36 103 135
John Arnold 08:19 11:17 135 177
Sheen 08:23 06:02 71 93
plett11 Plett11 08:27 07:47 92 121
vefatica vefatica 08:33 08:26 98 128
goblin 08:41 08:15 95 125
ulaca ulaca 08:42 06:07 70 92
Jeeves 08:43 07:22 84 110
vinyl12345 vinyl1 08:44 07:35 86 113
johndun John Dunleavy 08:50 06:17 71 93
kath 08:54 09:50 110 144
mjsaunders9 08:56 04:18 48 63
john.brassey 08:57 06:04 67 88
hemantyd 09:00 07:30 83 109
Edprof 09:00 08:40 96 126
Doyler 09:10 07:03 76 100
Mkgnao Mkgnao 09:15 08:22 90 118
gsriordan52 09:23 07:34 80 105
Coffell 09:35 08:05 84 110
Deezzaa Deezzaa 09:45 12:01 123 161
Cryptique 09:47 14:32 148 194
mamster 09:50 08:08 82 107
alex.scordellis 09:54 04:53 49 64
RPY 09:56 08:03 81 106
mich_punk 09:59 08:11 81 106
Word Psmith 10:13 09:29 92 121
Poff 10:21 06:59 67 88
piltdown man 10:23 12:49 123 161
hookyt 10:30 05:57 56 73
annikins 10:31 07:29 71 93
russellcannon 10:32 10:53 103 135
alexngbr 10:33 07:46 73 96
Nuck_the_king 10:35 08:34 80 105
Troothful 10:39 06:45 63 82
CoxBurglar 10:39 10:02 94 123
Pendrov 10:39 09:16 87 114
Birdingbob 10:51 11:36 106 139
starstruck starstruck_au 11:08 08:03 72 94
phatman 11:09 06:49 61 80
Cedric Statherby 11:29 09:22 81 106
Dr. Memory 11:34 11:17 97 127
E Bradford E Bradford 11:45 06:57 59 77
youngbaz 12:10 14:48 121 159
Captain Burnaby 12:13 11:26 93 122
WordPlodder BletchleyReject 12:21 10:39 86 113
BertieVII 12:21 09:12 74 97
rlowin2 12:23 12:38 102 134
Sonofjim 12:55 12:09 94 123
flashman flashman 13:01 17:00 130 171
ifincham2 13:08 10:44 81 106
tyrotim tyrotim 13:08 16:35 126 165
kapietro kapietro 13:09 12:31 95 125
The Real Steve Snackman 13:17 10:00 75 98
chabuduo chabuduo 13:23 07:27 55 72
Richard the First 13:31 10:02 74 97
nick.wilson 13:47 08:35 62 81
MichaelE 14:32 11:40 80 105
Mendes Mendesest 14:34 13:20 91 119
hectorslave 14:37 08:56 61 80
trish_tang 14:54 12:17 82 107
Merlin_55 Merlin 14:59 17:10 114 150
Xebeq 15:51 14:51 93 122
kfb20 15:54 14:49 93 122
Mark from Ipswich 16:04 17:59 111 146
Steve Wood 16:17 11:51 72 94
RPE10538 RPE10538 16:35 15:18 92 121
tomtom2 17:02 13:43 80 105
140 Mandak 262 Jamuna 17:25 16:14 93 122
hcmsm 17:54 14:49 82 107
keithandginnybirrell 18:10 16:01 88 115
New Driver 18:29 13:48 74 97
TonyK 19:42 15:27 78 102
bangsar DearHector 21:07 21:23 101 132
pfalloon 22:05 10:41 48 63
thechan 22:47 15:42 68 89
Pompeydave 22:52 23:32 102 134
paulmcl 23:08 10:40 46 60
DrAnatomist 30:22 26:19 86 113
IanV IanV 32:41 29:02 88 115
dave 34:27 31:59 92 121
revolting tonic 41:12 27:44 67 88
lilias.allan 43:49 38:00 86 113
mcfarl 46:42 45:52 98 128

A guide to the solver status

Legend
 Reference solver used for SNITCH
 Other Reference solver
 Tracked solver
 Blog solver

Blog Solvers

Blog Solvers are those who have allowed their times to be taken from the Times for the Times blog.

Notes for Blog Solvers:

  • the most reliable format for reporting times is with format "mm:ss" or as "x minutes" in the title or at the start of the entry
  • only the first main comment for each blogger is used; responses to other comments or a second comment is ignored
  • to report errors, include "n errors" just after the time
  • If you just have a time it is assumed you have no errors unless you mention DNF or pink squares or giving up, etc, in the text
  • Examples of good time notifications are "38:30, 0 errors" and "39 minutes, 0 errors" in the comment title or as the first part of your comment

Notes

The definition of Reference and Tracked solvers is described on the Neutrinos page.

The results for Reference solvers are normally used to calcuate the SNITCH. When this happens they are shown in the list with a solid blue line to the left. In the previous SNITCH results listing for each crossword, these were the only entries shown.

The most common causes for Reference solver results not to be used are: (a) that they did not meet the criteria this month to be used as a reference (e.g. they may not have completed enough puzzles on each day of the week) or (b) they have been pushed out of the top 100 on the leader board. In these cases, the results are now shown, but their data is not used for the SNITCH calculation.

Where there is data for Tracked solvers, I show them also in this table. The solving data is not always available, as the Crossword Club site only shows the top 100 solvers to everyone. Logged-in users get their own leaderboard position and those around them, but this is not available to everyone. So the SNITCH site only gets data for those who have made the top 100 in the leaderboard at some point during the day.

As a result there are a few geographically advantaged solvers; those of us who solve early in the day (e.g. we in the Antipodes, those in Asia and those staying up late in North America) are more likely to hit the leaderboard even with slower times. Solvers who are just as capable but solve later in the UK day might not make the top 100 and I have no way to capture their results.

You may wonder why there are Tracked solvers (in red) with low average solving times, mixed in with the Reference solvers (in blue). These are usually those that, while they don't seem to be Neutrinos, are not well aligned to the SNITCH. So I don't use them as Reference solvers in the SNITCH calculation, but still show their overall results.

You might also notice that there's some inconsistency at the tail end of the Reference solver list. My cutoff point is an average solving time of 45 minutes. But if someone around this mark is chosen as a Reference solver, their next month's results might end up being over 45 minutes and they will still be used. Alternatively, a Tracked solver might creep in under 45 minutes on the next calculation, but didn't make the cut for the prior Reference list. It's on the to-do list to see if I can make this a bit more predictable.

Stored SNITCH Values

Here are the SNITCH values (stored on the day) from the crossword.

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